AN ACT CONCERNING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND TENANT SCREENING.

House of Representatives
sHB5360 / File No. 112 1

General Assembly File No. 112
February Session, 2026 Substitute House Bill No. 5360

House of Representatives, March 23, 2026

The Committee on Housing reported through REP. FELIPE of
the 130th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the
House, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND TENANT
SCREENING.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 47a -4d of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2026): 2
(a) As used in this section, "tenant screening report" means a credit 3
report, a criminal background report, an employment history report, a 4
rental history report or any combination thereof, used by a landlord to 5
determine the suitability of a prospective tenant. 6
(b) No landlord may demand from a prospective tenant any 7
payment, fee or charge for the processing, review or acceptance of any 8
rental application, or demand any other payment, fee or charge before 9
or at the beginning of the tenancy, except a security deposit pursuant to 10
section 47a-21, advance payment for the first month's rent or a deposit 11
for a key or any special equipment, or a fee for a tenant screening report 12
as provided in subsection (c) of this section. No landlord may charge a 13
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tenant a move-in or move-out fee. 14
(c) On and after October 1, 2023, a landlord may charge a fee not 15
exceeding fifty dollars plus an adjustment reflecting any increase in the 16
consumer price index for urban consumers, as determined by the 17
Commissioner of Housing on an annual basis, for a tenant screening 18
report concerning a prospective tenant. 19
(d) A landlord that charges a fee for a tenant screening report 20
concerning a prospective tenant shall provide the prospective tenant 21
with (1) a copy of the tenant screening report or, if the landlord is 22
prohibited from providing such a copy, information concerning such 23
report that would allow such tenant to request a copy of such report 24
from the service provider that produced such report, and (2) a copy of 25
the receipt or invoice from the entity conducting the tenant screening 26
report concerning the prospective tenant. 27
(e) A landlord shall not deny an application for rental housing on the 28
basis of credit history if the applicant is a victim of domestic violence, as 29
defined in section 46b-1. In order to establish the applicant's status as a 30
victim of domestic violence, an applicant may submit to the landlord (1) 31
a letter from a domestic violence counselor or sexual assault counselor, 32
as such terms are defined in section 52 -146k, a housing counselor 33
certified by the United States Department of Housing and Urban 34
Development or an attorney representing the applicant; (2) a police 35
report; or (3) an order of protection issued pursuant to section 46b -15, 36
46b-16a, 46b-38c, 53a-40e or 54-1k in which the applicant is named as a 37
protected person and that is in effect at the time such tenant screening 38
report is issued. Any landlord who violates the provisions of this 39
subsection shall pay the applicant actual damages, including all 40
amounts paid to the landlord as an application fee, application deposit 41
or reimbursement for any of the landlord's out -of-pocket expenses that 42
were charged to the applicant, along with attorney's fees. 43
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

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Section 1 October 1, 2026 47a-4d

Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Subsec. (e)(1), "counselor" was inserted after "domestic violence",
and "such terms are" was inserted before "defined", and in Subsec.
(e)(3), "order" was changed to "order of protection" and "in which the
applicant is named as a protected person " was added for clarity and
statutory consistency.

HSG Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO

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sHB5360 / File No. 112 4

The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact: None
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill, which prohibits landlords from denying certain rental
applications based on applicants' credit history, is not anticipated to
result in a fiscal impact. The state is not a direct residential landlord.
The Out Years
State Impact: None
Municipal Impact: None

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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 5360

AN ACT CONCERNING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND TENANT
SCREENING.

SUMMARY
This bill modifies the law on residential tenant screening by
establishing a new protection for applicants who are victims of domestic
violence (as defined below) . Specifically, it prohibits landlords from
denying a domestic violence victim’s rental application based on his or
her credit history.
The bill allows applicants to establish their victim status by
submitting any of the following documents to the landlord:
1. a letter from (a) a domestic violence or sexual assault counselor ,
(b) a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD)-certified housing counselor, or (c) the applicant’s
attorney;
2. a police report; or
3. an order of protection in effect when the landlord issues the
tenant screening report, if the applicant is named as a protected
person (a civil restraining or protection order, family violence
protective order, criminal protective order, or standing criminal
protective order).
Landlords who violate the bill’s provisions must pay the applicant
actual damages and attorney’s fees. Actual damages include any
application fee or deposit the applicant paid or any amounts the
landlord charged the applicant for reimbursement of out-of-pocket
expenses.
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Existing law, unchanged by the bill, generally prohibits (1) housing-
related discrimination based on someone’s domestic violence victim
status and (2) anyone from knowingly making another person liable for
“coerced debt” (generally, certain credit card debt incurred by a
domestic violence victim who was coerced into incurring it ) (see
BACKGROUND).
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2026
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DEFINITION
By law and under the bill, “domestic violence” is:
1. a continuous threat of present physical pain or physical injury
against a family or household member (spouses; former spouses;
relatives; or people who live together , lived together , have
children together, are dating, or were recently dating);
2. stalking, including 2nd degree stalking, of a family or household
member;
3. a pattern of threatening, including 2nd degree threatening, of a
family or household member or a third party that intimidates the
family or household member; or
4. coercive control of a family or household member, which is a
pattern of behavior that in purpose or effect unreasonably
interferes with a person’s free will and personal liberty (for
example, coerced debt).
BACKGROUND
Coerced Debt
The law imposes specific obligations and responsibilities on coerced
debt “claimants” (consumer collection agencies). Specifically, if a
domestic violence victim gives a claimant certain information and
documentation that a debt is coerced debt, the claimant must pause all
collection activities on the debt for at least 60 days, review the victim’s
submission and other available information it has, and then continue or
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end its collection based on the review. Among other things, if a claimant
ends collection activities against a victim, and had given negative
information about the victim to a consumer credit reporting agency,
then the claimant must notify the agency to delete the information (CGS
§ 36a-651).
Housing Discrimination Based on Domestic Violence Victim
Status
State law prohibits anyone from refusing to sell or rent after a person
makes a bona fide offer; refusing to negotiate for the sale or rental of a
dwelling; or otherwise denying or making a dwelling unavailable to
someone based on their status as a domestic violence victim. A violation
is a class D misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in prison, a fine
of up to $250, or both . This prohibition does not apply to the rental of
owner-occupied single- or two-family homes (CGS § 46a-64c).
Under the federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), a
qualifying applicant may not be denied admission to housing assisted
by certain federal housing programs on the basis (or as a direct result)
of being a domestic violence victim (34 U.S.C. § 12491). (Poor credit
history may be a direct result of domestic violence under certain
circumstances, according to HUD guidance.)
COMMITTEE ACTION
Housing Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 14 Nay 4 (03/05/2026)